The beautifully intricate song of the nightingale is a uncommon presence in Britain these days, however not at this rural location. Back in 2020, a lone bird could be heard at this remote spot in rural Surrey; this summer, they were everywhere. “We were hearing them calling all night, from multiple areas,” explains one ecologist, chief environmental expert for the youth rewilding group. A team of Youngwilders were camping out at the property, however the nightingales were so noisy, “we stayed awake all night,” says a project coordinator. “We were all knackered the next day, but it was so amazing.” An expert from the Surrey Wildlife Trust came to help them trap and mark one of the birds the next morning, the ecologist remembers: “He’d never handled a nightingale in his possession before. He was teary.”
Rewilding Speeds Up at Maple Farm
Nature recovery is by definition a slow business, but in this place at the farm, after merely four years, the changes are already apparent, and noticeable. The land was once a sanctuary for equines. Now it’s a showpiece for the Youngwilders’ mission: to hasten habitat revival, in one of the most nature-depleted regions in the world, and to connect the younger generation (18-30-year-olds) with a natural world they are often shut out of, and a environmental emergency they are often ineffectual to halt. Rising temperatures advances, tree clearing eliminates ecosystems, and one more international meeting draws to a frustrating end in the host country – so who could blame young people for choosing to act independently?
Our initiative was based on the idea that there were individuals ready to permit a collection of youthful amateurs on to their property
“The younger generation is the most informed environmentally that there’s ever been,” says the Youngwilders’ founder, a key figure. They are also “the deeply concerned in the problems, and have played the minimal role to their causing, and, then, are also going to experience consequences the greatest as a consequence.”
Transformation of the Property
Today, the organisation is growing across the United Kingdom – and this location was the beginning, in multiple ways. “It’s the initial project, and where we built our network,” explains a founding member, as she offers a tour of the 12-hectare property. “This used to be six different fields,” she states, as we stroll through tall vegetation featuring low scrub, bordered by mature woodland. “The primary noticeable difference is that we’ve eliminated all the enclosures, a significant length of it, to create the impression like a unified area.” In the summer, they used protective gear and cleared masses of invasive plants, an invasive species that can harm the skin. “We’ve introduced loads of natural barriers,” says the director. “But the main thing is we’ve just allowed it to rest for a little bit. We’ve reduced a significant amount of animal feeding and seen what’s sprung up.”
Bushes and natural fences are a excellent songbird habitat, she comments, however currently they’re cutting back some of the brambles to establish a increased variety of ecosystems and to join separate areas of the site. Young saplings will take considerably longer to grow, but new growth from the nearby woodland are already establishing themselves in the fields; the crew have been placing guards to safeguard them from wildlife.
Animals Returns in Droves
In addition to the nightingales – fauna is reappearing in droves. Recently they’ve spotted grass snakes, slowworms, bats and invertebrates, says a team member, as he raises one of their monitoring tools (like a mat over a depression in the earth). “You discover reptiles and animals hiding under there, but it’s likely a bit cold for them now.” Wild beehives, built using carved pieces of timber and active with insects, are fixed to some of the woodland. The removal of grazing horses has allowed invertebrates space to flourish in the long grass. When they visited this season, says Bennett, “I’d never observed so numerous insects. There were just clouds of them. We were like, ‘What is going on?’”
Origins of the Initiative
The original founders – Bennett, Jack, Molly and two others – united as students, focusing on or expressing an interest in environmental science. In that year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was indicating that the target of one and a half degrees of global heating was appearing unachievable, Greta Thunberg was spearheading the school strikes for climate movement, and campaigner Clover Hogan was talking about young people feeling “climate anxiety”. It was also the time of a writer's publication, Wilding, on how they transformed the a Sussex location from a struggling dairy farm into a successful ecosystem. “We were super-inspired by the case study, but what could be the function for youth?” asks Easton. “So we created a platform and called loads of conservation groups and were asking, ‘Do you sometimes get your property owners seeking to do something and you are short on resources?’”
Durant continues the account: “Our entire project was essentially based on the idea that there were individuals who were willing to allow a bunch of youthful amateurs on to their estate indiscriminately, to take fairly massive actions that would change land value
